Older players important?

[Wells]

I always look for young players and I keep my squad full of kids I mean aged between 17 to 24 and always get rid or sell him if he is 25 unless he is world class.. I have always been like that but for now I am thinking of keeping players of of 27, 28, 29, e.t.c... do you play with young or older players?

[Guest]

I've never found that the benefit of experience outweighs the benefit of inexperienced youth so other than keepers I tend to move players on before they turn 30 & I regularly get a news item about winning titles with a young squad.

[WayneRomney]

I like to keep the older ones with strong mental stats for tutoring purposes, but not beyond 30...

[SmithRFC]

I do like to look for quality older players, who can still do a job, on free transfers at the end of each season. Got a few years out of Michael Carrick at Rangers on FM15 and he was brilliant.

Mainly though I just bring younger players in and shift the older ones.

[barto123]

I sign older players a lot in LLM. I usually keep a roster of players with an average age of around 27. Though, I usually move players on by around 31 or so.

[FrazT]

I will usually keep 2 or 3 experienced players in the squad, but have always favoured young players because they will usually generate good transfer income if they delelope

[Wells]

I was thinking of that, getting 1 or 2 experienced players for leadership.. because a young player will be unhappy and feel pressured if given captaincy..

[Bruce Drundrige]

I suppose in theory older players should have more developed mental attributes?

[swansongs]

Young players develop so quickly and reliably in these games that taking on older, experienced players isn't the sensible option it is in real life.

[mrw072]

I like to buy and sell players in the game so I tend to look for 'older' players because I think they can fit straight into your team and also you know what you're getting with them. I also think that in FM older players tends to keep their attributes at a good level well into their 30s. My key player is 32 in the game, but he's going as well as ever, so I've got no desire to replace him because I know exactly what he brings to the team. I think IRL it's important to have a good balance between youth and experience, but I'm not so sure that's as important in FM. To be honest I'd probably avoid too many young players because of the uncertainty as to how they will develop.

[bestbrother]

I dont have a bias tbh.

My current first team has 3 players over 30, going further 8 of the 11 are over 28.

On the flipside, 3 teenagers feature in my first team squad.

My current skipper is 32 and tied down till he is 36 and chances are if he can perform, ill annually renew that till he retires as well. I dont look at age or even stats once they are playing, as long as they put in the average, then im happy.

[Maw74]

I dont have a bias tbh.

My current first team has 3 players over 30, going further 8 of the 11 are over 28.

On the flipside, 3 teenagers feature in my first team squad.

My current skipper is 32 and tied down till he is 36 and chances are if he can perform, ill annually renew that till he retires as well. I dont look at age or even stats once they are playing, as long as they put in the average, then im happy.

Same as this for me, I don't really care about age as long as they are performing well.

[tmason122]

Same as this for me, I don't really care about age as long as they are performing well.

Same for me too. I prefer to buy younger players, just so I get more for my money as they should play for a longtime. But once a player is in my squad they stay there until there average rankings decrease. If they´re 33 or 34 but still perform well that´s fine with me I base it all on performance by performance basis.

[iAlwaysWin]

Yes they matter, especially older players who are very experienced in int football and a club legend, they perform in nearly every big game from my experience.

heres a few cases for me at the moment at man city, zabaleta, 33 now for me and still performing every week, i cannot see another right back on the market that would bring as much as zabaleta does for my man city team, vice captain, never injured and a club legend to boot.

another example is of course kompany, getting on a bit for my man city, quite injury prone but boy does he play when the big games come around, put it this way any cup final hes played in ive won.

[AFCBeer]

Mental and Tactical attributes take the longest to max in FM. As these are key to the way I play the game, I'm happy to have a few older players in my squad. Even if their physical attributes have gone, if you can select them in correct role alongside more energetic players the balance can work.

I'm not 100% on this, but I'm convinced there is some sort of hidden attribute which benefits older players. I have an 18 year old forward who is 15+ in finishing, composure and technique. Yet he completely fluffs his lines regularly in front of goal in a way the more experienced forwards, with lesser attributes don't. In fact the match engine seems to exaggerate by how much he misses by almost as if to prove the point he is not ready yet.

I guess this is linked to the consistency, pressure and big matches hidden attributes. As you get older these improve. Even with experience, while a normal league game is bog standard for a 30 year old, for even a 23 year olds it's still quite a big deal.